Easier to Run
by cheru
Summary: During a fight with Scourge, Sonic learns more about his double than he ever expected. (Sonourge, rated T for swearing and self harm)
1. Chapter 1

"Had enough yet?" Sonic jeered and sidestepped as Scourge lunged and threw a punch, narrowly missing his side. Sonic crouched, balled himself up, and spin dashed at his opponent, who ducked and narrowly avoided a face full of razor-sharp quills. Scourge remained crouched and whipped his head around, growling and showing off pointed teeth. Sonic ricocheted off the wall, heading towards Scourge's face once again. This time, Scourge met him with a spin dash of his own, and they collided with a force that sent rippling vibrations through the both of them.

They both unfurled, panting, and were at a stalemate once again. Scourge clenched and unclenched his fists. Sonic grinned and wiped sweat from his brow as his green counterpart merely scowled.

This had been going on for a solid 20 minutes now, with absolutely no progress being made. As soon as one of them seemed to have the upper hand, the other would instantly tear him down. It was always like this—they were equally matched in every way. Sonic knew this, and although he was always up for a good spar, he definitely wasn't the most patient of hedgehogs and this was getting _old._

"Dude, what is this? An oath of silence? Or are you just feeling shy?" Sonic's look was mischievous, but he did honestly want to know why his evil double hadn't said a single word the whole time. He'd just appeared out of nowhere and started attacking him, which was _super_ weird. Sonic knew himself (and by extension, Scourge), and a fight without banter was pretty much always out of the question. That was more Classic Sonic's deal.

Scourge grimaced and continued his wordless onslaught with a sudden leap and a punch thrown at Sonic's head, which came dangerously close to colliding with his cheek. Sonic didn't want to admit it, but this was tiring him out, and just a _slight_ delay in reaction time could mean a huge beating for him. Scourge, however, had this weird, unbreakable determination going on, and by the hardened look in his eyes it didn't seem like he was going to stop any time soon. Sonic needed to figure out how to end this, and quick.

Sonic dug his sneakers into the ground, taking off in a sprint—it was hard picking up speed in an enclosed space like this—and began running laps around Scourge. "Okay, okay, so you're not going to talk. Let's do 20 questions then. How 'bout a kick for a yes, a punch for a no?"

The straps on Scourge's leather jacket twisted and tangled as he swiveled his body around, trying to keep his eyes on Sonic's accelerating form circling him. He still gave no response to Sonic's goading, and his expression was steeled in a way that looked strange and painful on him.

"Soooo," Sonic continued, trying to keep the distraction going. "Having troubles with Fiona? Did she leave you? Again? Or maybe you made a deal with Eggman to come assassinate me? Or maybe you just really, really wanted to see me again? Yanno, you can always just ask."

"Fuck off," Scourge muttered, and Sonic felt a bit of triumph at being able to elicit even just two words.

"Woah, language, buddy!" Sonic grinned. He'd been closing in on Scourge the whole time, running much tighter laps, and with a burst of speed he made himself a blur around his green counterpart. A whirlwind kicked up, and before Scourge could react, he was spun in circles so fast that his loose, oversized jacket came flying off and smacked against the wall. Scourge lost his footing and tripped, his face planting on the ground with the definitive _crack!_ and his arms splayed out on either side of him.

Sonic skidded to a halt, placing a gloved hand on the ground for balance. He was about to laugh at Scourge's current position before noticing a few details that made his blood run suddenly cold.

One, and although it was a seemingly innocuous detail, he'd never seen the other hedgehog without his jacket before. He looked…vulnerable without it, and it made Sonic uncomfortable, as if he'd just done something he really shouldn't have. He gulped.

Two, there was a spattering of dark red where Scourge's face had landed, spraying out a few inches or so. Sonic definitely hadn't meant for that to happen. He briefly wondered if Scourge's nose was broken.

Three, Scourge's bare arms were littered with scars. Thin, white ones that seemed old, as well as angry, red ones that looked painful and inflamed. Most looked shallow, but a few, especially the new ones, looked alarmingly deep.

It took a few seconds for Sonic to take all this in, and in that time Scourge was scrambling to his feet and rushing to grab his crumpled jacket. He hurriedly slid it on, and for a moment there was such _fear_ in his eyes that Sonic felt as if he were the most horrendous villain to ever walk the earth. The fear was quickly replaced, however, with a frenzied rage that turned the green hedgehog's eyes into blue flame.

"I'm gonna kill you," he said, quietly. A trickle of blood dripped down from his nose.

Sonic wouldn't say that he was _afraid_ , because he'd never much been intimidated by Scourge, but he felt… sick. There was some very deep cold thing gripping at his stomach. He couldn't let this fight go on any longer.

"Scourge—" he began, but that was as far as he got before Scourge took off with lightning speed and lunged at his throat, looking almost animalistic. Sonic let out a yipe as he danced out of Scourge's reach. It was time to go on the defensive, which in his case, meant going fast enough that he wouldn't be caught. Once again he began picking up speed, but this time being careful to stay out of the range of Scourge's fists. Scourge followed suit, tailing after him—Sonic hoped that their matched abilities would mean he'd stay safely out of his double's reach.

"Scourge, _listen!_ " Sonic called over his shoulder. "I want to talk—"

"No!" Scourge bellowed, picking up his pace and shrinking the gap between them. "I don't _want_ to talk to you!"

 _Yeah, you've made that much obvious,_ Sonic thought to himself while furrowing his brow. "I get that, but if you just listen for one second, I think it'd help—"

"The only thing that'll help me is getting rid of _you!_ "

"What'd I even do this time? I know you hate me and all, but you just show up out of nowhere, I haven't even seen you in ages!"

"It's not about _doing_ something," Scourge seethed through gritted teeth. "It's who you _are!_ I'm not going to keep living in your goddamn shadow, Blue!"

Sonic made an abrupt stop, which completely caught Scourge off guard and caused him to flail just to keep from crashing into his double. Sonic turned towards him, gloved hand on his hip.

"Hold up, is that what this is about?" Sonic's expression was bemused. "Listen, Scourge, I know I like to play up the attention sometimes, but not everything is a popularity contest—"

"You fu—that's not what I mean!" Scourge was just standing there now, not even making any moves to hit him, and Sonic guessed he was sufficiently distracted. Maybe he actually would be able to get some answers out of him.

"Well then what is it? Y'know, maybe if you tried helping people instead of hurting them, this wouldn't be such an issue. Ever thought of that?"

A vein bulged in Scourge's head. "It's not that _simple!_ "

"'Course it is. Being nice really isn't that hard, I promise. Look, I'm doin' it right now. Super easy. Just having a conversation with you like a normal person."

"You think," Scourge began, voice deathly low and eye twitching. "That if I'm just _nice_ to people, suddenly _everything_ will turn out right?"

Sonic shrugged. "I mean, uh, that's not exactly what I said, but that's generally how it works for us heroic types."

Scourge's hands balled into fists and his entire frame began to tremble.

"Well, _good for you_ , Blue!" he bellowed. "I don't _get_ to be the fuckin' hero! You got all your little friends and parents who actually care about you and I got _shit!_ "

Sonic was stunned into silence as Scourge wiped away a tear with his grubby leather sleeve and sniffled pitifully.

"And y'know why that is? Because everything on my world is just _supposed_ to be bad, includin' me. I'm just the _Evil Sonic._ So quit acting like you give a shit about me."

At first, Sonic had no idea how to react. He hadn't expected something like this. He tentatively took a step toward the sniveling hedgehog and reached out his hand, feeling a desire to offer some sort of comfort, but paused and let it linger in the air.

"I..." Sonic began, unsure. "...I'm sorry."

"You don't—fucking—get it," Scourge choked between tears that had begun to flow freely now. He dropped to his knees. "You don't fucking get it, because everyone loves you! And for what? Even... even the _good guys_ in my world are just assholes. My dad—" His voice caught in his throat and he petered off.

It was bizarre seeing his doppelganger like this, crumpled and vulnerable. This was the same Scourge who had been set on killing him a few moments earlier; the same Scourge who had beaten his friends to a pulp and threatened to destroy both Mobius and Moebius—right?

Sonic knelt down beside him and—carefully, ready to run in case Scourge reacted explosively—placed a gloved hand on Scourge's back. Surprisingly, Scourge only flinched, not even moving to hit him or scream or do anything else. His frame continued to shake with heavy sobs.

"Hey, I don't know any of the stuff you've been through, but…" Sonic tried to choose his words carefully, something that wasn't really his strong suit. "You know the one time when I said that it wouldn't take much for you to be just like me? I didn't mean that in a bad way. I think we could make a great team, if you ever wanted to be one." He rubbed Scourge's back, cautiously.

Scourge looked up at Sonic. His eyes were red, there was dried blood on his face, and Sonic was clueless as to whether he had just said the right thing or the wrong thing. Scourge's face was unreadable.

He looked away again and shaking hands drew a pack of cigarettes and a lighter out of his pocket. He took one out, placed it between his lips, and lit it after a few attempts. Slowly he took a drag, then exhaled a puff of smoke between the two of them.

"Get lost," Scourge muttered hoarsely, avoiding eye contact. "This never fucking happened, alright? Scram and forget it."

"Are you sure—"

" _Beat it!_ " he snarled, turning so his back was towards Sonic. "Before I change my mind and decide to pummel you."

Sonic frowned, wavering. After a few seconds of deliberation, he stood, turned on his heel, and bolted off. Only a dust cloud remained.

Scourge crushed the pack of cigarettes in his fist. His face was tinged pink.


	2. Chapter 2

It was fucking awful looking at him. And not for the reasons it used to be, either. He used to look at Sonic and see everything that he hated, everything that reminded him that he was just a knock-off. Now when Scourge looked at Sonic he had... fucking butterflies in his stomach. _Christ._

He wasn't even sure when the change happened, or what caused it, and he still wanted to punch him but maybe also kiss him after? God, it was bad, it was really fucking bad and he'd never felt _anything_ like this before. Was this what it felt like when you had a... well, Scourge would never use the word "crush" to describe it. "Obsession," maybe. Except that didn't sound good either.

Maybe it was because... Sonic was _nice_. Which was, ironically, also the most infuriating thing about him. And it was recently, a few weeks ago, when Sonic had extended a hand to him when he was at his worst, made some comment about how they'd "make a great team," that Scourge had _really_ felt it. That ugly, fluttery feeling. And he hated it. Hated how it made him stutter and trip over his own feet and make a complete joke of himself just 'cause one fucking guy maybe, possibly cared about him. It was pathetic.

And now, he was looking at him. _Would we? Would we make a great team? I don't fucking know because you were probably just trying to calm me down and were lying to me like everyone else you piece of shit you asshole you fucking! Fuck! Why did you do this to me!_

"Uh, Scourge?" Sonic's voice snapped him out of it. "Hello? You still haven't told me what you're doing here."

Oh, right. He'd been feeling weird and messed up and wandered into Prime Zone via warp ring. Someone had probably spotted him and told Sonic. Figures.

"Why don't you mind your own damn business? Can't even piss in this Zone without someone letting you know."

Sonic raised a brow and seemed to ignore the hostility. He looked concerned. "Do you... need something?" _Yes, for you to get the fuck out of my brain so I can go back to living a normal life._ "Is this about the thing from a few weeks ago?"

Ugh, Christ. Guess Sonic hadn't really been listening when he told him to forget about it. His hands went clammy as he pulled and fiddled at his jacket. "I just wanted to go for a walk, okay? Taking a break from shitty Moebius." He turned abruptly and began walking away—he really, _really_ dreaded the direction this conversation was going.

Sonic was by his side right away, walking in time with Scourge's pace. "Hey—why don't I walk with you?" Oh, no. He wasn't going to let up. Scourge felt his instinct to run kick in and immediately he took off, much faster than probably even Sonic had expected, leaving a green trail and a cloud of dust behind him. Everything was a blur and he didn't know where he was going and he didn't know Prime Zone very well but he didn't care, he had to get out of there and he _could not_ look at that face any longer—

It was maybe about ten minutes later when he screeched to a halt and stopped by a large tree, clutching his head. Ten minutes of running at supersonic speed will get you pretty damn far, and he was completely lost now, which was basically what he wanted. He plopped down by the tree's roots and let out a sigh.

"You know, this is where Knothole used to be." Scourge nearly leapt a foot in the air at Sonic's voice beside him.

"Agh! Fuck! Don't do that!" Sure enough, Sonic was sitting right there at the base of the tree as well, just _smiling_ at Scourge. He had _no_ idea how he hadn't noticed Sonic following him...

"Dunno what you were thinking. We're the same speed, you can't outrun me."

"Well maybe I thought you'd be _decent_ and leave me alone." Sonic laughed at that.

"Maybe I'm not such a good guy after all, huh?" He grinned. Scourge merely scowled and narrowed his eyes. "You just seemed like you had something you wanted to talk about. Even if you were running away and all."

Whatever. Scourge wasn't going to grace that with a response. He was just going to ignore Sonic as aggressively as possible. He turned his gaze away and was staring off into the distance when he suddenly realized that everything around them was burnt. He'd been too preoccupied during his run and hadn't noticed—they were surrounded by blackened, dead trees and ashy ground. Even the tree they both now sat under was nothing but charcoal.

"Pretty awful scenery," Sonic spoke again after a silence. "This is where me and the rest of the Freedom Fighters used to live, before Eggman burned it down. Everyone got out fine, but the forest... not so lucky." Sonic drew his finger around in the black dirt, stopping near a tiny green sprout.

"But," he continued. "Sally told me this is just what the forest needs sometimes. That it'll grow back fresher and newer." He looked at Scourge and smiled again. _Ugh._ Scourge's stomach did flips.

"You better not make some analogy about how my life's a burnt wasteland but it's okay because I'm a fucking sprout or whatever."

"Oh, well, uh," Sonic scratched his head and looked embarrassed. "I kind of thought it would be a good opportunity..." He grinned suddenly. "And you _are_ tiny and green, like a sprout. So it works."

"You—God, shut up!" He lunged at Sonic and tackled him but Sonic was just laughing, seriously, _fuck_ him for cracking up at his own joke this much. "I'm not even tiny! We're the same size!" But Sonic was just wiping a tear, not caring that he was pinned in the dirt and—wait. They were on the ground and he was just _inches_ away from Sonic's face right now and... this was not good. Not good to be this close to someone he'd been thinking about for two weeks straight. And Sonic had stopped laughing and was giving him this _look—_

Scourge sat up abruptly and turned his back towards Sonic, praying that Sonic hadn't seen how red his face had just gotten. Or maybe he had seen it and he'd realize Scourge was a fucking weirdo and he'd leave him alone finally. He hugged his legs to his chest and rocked slightly and just tried to block everything out, hoping it would dissolve or disappear and he'd be back on Moebius, even if it was shitty.

"Hey," Scourge felt Sonic's hand on his shoulder. He flinched at the contact but didn't respond otherwise. "Hey, it's fine. Sorry my analogy kind of sucked. I guess I'm not used to this kind of thing..."

And then—what the fuck—a warm hand placed on his own and Sonic sort of leaning into him and resting his head on Scourge's shoulder and, _what the fuck_ , he was going to say something but all that came out was a choked noise and his whole body was heating up and he was going to melt away or explode or both. He turned his head and Sonic drew back a bit, looking at him with that expression Scourge couldn't understand. What _was_ that? Sympathy? Pity?

And it was now when they were so close, that Scourge's brain was a mess and he couldn't process anything and all that was registering was _Do it, just fucking do it or you probably never will_ and everything else was gone. Something in him knew it was a bad idea but he was too warm and sweaty and fucking googly-eyed right now to listen.

So he grabbed Sonic's face closer and kissed him, fast and aggressive, because he was a mistake and couldn't do anything gently. It was brief, a quick peck more than anything, and afterwards there were a few seconds of dizziness where Scourge felt some kind of contentment. Before the brain fog cleared and he realized what he'd just done.

"Oh, shit." he whispered.


End file.
